Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to systems for inspecting articles such as, for example, cigarette packages, which are each wrapped with an overwrap, and associated methods. In particular, aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and associated methods for testing the integrity of the overwrap wrapping the article.
Description of Related Art
Popular smoking articles such as cigarettes have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of smokable material such as, for example, shredded tobacco (e.g., tobacco cut filler) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby forming a so-called “tobacco rod.” It has become desirable to manufacture cigarettes having cylindrical filter elements aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, filter elements are manufactured from fibrous materials such as cellulose acetate and plug wrap, and are attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. Such cigarettes having filter elements are referred to as “filter cigarettes.”
Filter cigarettes conventionally have been sold in packages that have a generally rectangular parallelepiped form. Some types of popular cigarette packages have the form of a so-called “hard pack,” “crush proof box” or “hinged lid package.” Another type of popular cigarette package may have the form of a so-called “soft pack.” These conventional cigarette packages are generally configured to maintain a freshness and quality of the cigarettes therein and to protect the cigarettes from adverse environmental conditions that could degrade their freshness and/or quality. Such cigarette packages typically include: (1) an inner foil liner comprising a metal foil laminated to a paper substrate and/or a metalized paper which is wrapped about the cigarettes and folded, but not sealed, at the ends of the cigarettes; (2) a “soft” or “hard” paper or paperboard package which is usually imprinted with brand specific information; and (3) an exterior clear overwrap of a heat sealable polymeric film that is heat sealed about the package and includes at least one seam.
It would be highly desirable to provide a testing system that is configured to inspect and/or test the integrity of the overwrap wrapping the cigarette package. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a testing system that is configured to test the integrity of the overwrap wrapping the cigarette package for leakage in a repeatable, efficient, and/or reliable manner. Further, it would be desirable to provide a testing system that is configured to test the integrity of the overwrap wrapping the cigarette package for leakage in a manner that does not substantially destroy and/or significantly damage the cigarette package itself.